diff --git a/cmd/e2e/e2e.go b/cmd/e2e/e2e.go
index c8ed3169579..62fcb26412b 100644
--- a/cmd/e2e/e2e.go
+++ b/cmd/e2e/e2e.go
@@ -75,6 +75,10 @@ func main() {
 
 	if *provider == "aws" {
 		awsConfig := "[Global]\n"
+		if *gceZone == "" {
+			glog.Error("gce_zone must be specified for AWS")
+			os.Exit(1)
+		}
 		awsConfig += fmt.Sprintf("Zone=%s\n", *gceZone)
 
 		var err error
diff --git a/pkg/cloudprovider/aws/aws.go b/pkg/cloudprovider/aws/aws.go
index dfe75d3d5ad..b5a68b4a91a 100644
--- a/pkg/cloudprovider/aws/aws.go
+++ b/pkg/cloudprovider/aws/aws.go
@@ -64,7 +64,6 @@ type AWSMetadata interface {
 
 type VolumeOptions struct {
 	CapacityMB int
-	Zone       string
 }
 
 // Volumes is an interface for managing cloud-provisioned volumes
@@ -241,9 +240,9 @@ func newAWSCloud(config io.Reader, authFunc AuthFunc, instanceId string, metadat
 	ec2 := &goamzEC2{ec2: ec2.New(auth, region)}
 
 	awsCloud := &AWSCloud{
-		ec2:              ec2,
-		cfg:              cfg,
-		region:           region,
+		ec2: ec2,
+		cfg: cfg,
+		region: region,
 		availabilityZone: zone,
 	}
 
@@ -894,7 +893,7 @@ func (aws *AWSCloud) DetachDisk(instanceName string, diskName string) error {
 // Implements Volumes.CreateVolume
 func (aws *AWSCloud) CreateVolume(volumeOptions *VolumeOptions) (string, error) {
 	request := &ec2.CreateVolume{}
-	request.AvailZone = volumeOptions.Zone
+	request.AvailZone = aws.availabilityZone
 	request.Size = (int64(volumeOptions.CapacityMB) + 1023) / 1024
 	response, err := aws.ec2.CreateVolume(request)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/test/e2e/pd.go b/test/e2e/pd.go
index e2f7def4a58..5d4d4379130 100644
--- a/test/e2e/pd.go
+++ b/test/e2e/pd.go
@@ -193,7 +193,6 @@ func createPD() (string, error) {
 		}
 		volumeOptions := &aws_cloud.VolumeOptions{}
 		volumeOptions.CapacityMB = 10 * 1024
-		volumeOptions.Zone = testContext.cloudConfig.Zone
 		return volumes.CreateVolume(volumeOptions)
 	} else {
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("Unsupported provider type")